by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

by Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX -- In the greatest 24 hours in Italian baseball history, Team Italy has not only dramatically emerged on the international scene, but it may have uncovered a future major-league hitting coach.

Mike Piazza watched his team destroy Team Canada 14-4 Friday in its second huge upset of the World Baseball Classic. The Italians are almost a cinch to move onto the second round.

The man who was the greatest hitting catcher in baseball history couldn't be more proud. And if he's not careful, he may soon have clubs calling with job opportunities the way Italy is crushing the ball.

"In my opinion,'' said Italy first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who plays for the Chicago Cubs, "he's a Hall of Famer. When he opens his mouth, you listen. He just makes you so relaxed.

"He'd be a great hitting coach.''

Piazza, who is treated like Hank Aaron on his trips to Italy, according to pitching coach Bill Holmberg, has these guys believing they can hit any pitching staff in the world.

They are batting .397 in the tournament and have scored 20 runs in 17 innings. They might still be scoring if not for the mercy rule that stopped the game with no outs in the eighth inning.

There's something magical happening when you have a non-roster first baseman from the Minnesota Twins, just two years removed from playing in the Independent Can-Am League for the Worcester Tornadoes, suddenly impersonating Albert Pujols.

Chris Colabello went 4-for-5 with four RBI, including a three-run homer.

"It's really cool,'' Colabello said. "Probably the coolest thing I ever experienced on the baseball field. Wearing this Italian jersey, I wear it with a lot of pride.''

Colabello's father, Lou, was playing professionally in Italy when he met his wife. He even pitched in the 1984 Olympics for Italy, beating Japan.

"He still thinks he can get me out,'' Colabello said. "But this is a blessing. I never imagined I'd be here but always believed in myself. I've got to thank the Twins for letting me play in this.

"Hopefully, everybody is cheering for us now. It's what people believe in that clubhouse, not what everybody else days about us. We love that underdog title."

Piazza knows underdogs. He was a 62nd-round draft pick who went onto play in 12 All-Star games and hit 427 homers.

Now, he's opening eyes as a possible major-league hitting coach.

"I'm doing a lot of cheering,'' Piazza said, "and a lot of praying. My job is to just fine-tune it a little bit. I'm just trying to keep it simple. The way they've been throwing great at-bats out there, it's impressive.

"We just came in prepared. We did our homework. All our guys did extra work in the cages.

"We didn't want to just show up and look good. We wanted to play well.''

So how about it? Is there a major-league hitting coaching job in his future?

"You never say never,'' Piazza said. "I'm just trying to stay in the moment and see what my future holds. It's fun to have these guys talk to you. You keep them loose. A lot of guys walk over and talk hitting. You learn as much talking about hitting as the hitting mechanics.

"It's just very satisfying. At least I'm giving back to the game that gave so much to me. I know how much coaches gave to me."

And now, Team Italy has a chance to go where its never gone before, to the second round of the WBC, winning two consecutive games in a span of 24 hours.

"I think its pretty close to being the best (24-hour period) we've ever had,'' Holmberg saod. "This is pretty special. For all of us.

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